Bruno del Pino praised MP Motorsport’s “super job” at the Eurocup-3 round in Spielberg and spoke to Feeder Series after the weekend on a potential intra-team title fight. 

By Juan Arroyo

Off the back of scoring no points in a rain-disrupted Spa weekend, Del Pino claimed a second-place finish and the victory in Austria, placing him second in the standings behind teammate Javier Sagrera.

Del Pino said the weekend was “more of a real race round” after mechanical issues prevented him from setting a lap during practice at Spa – which was used to set the grid for race one after qualifying was rained out.

“It was not my best weekend in terms of pace, but we managed to do really good in both races to get the podiums, which was the thing that we really needed to get the points that we didn’t get [at Spa],” the Spanish driver said.

“We could call it redemption, but it was also a reality check to see where we are at the moment and just to build things towards the regular season.”

Del Pino led MP Motorsport’s efforts on a historic weekend for the team, as they became the first to lock out both podiums in a single round of Eurocup-3 with victories for him and Owen Tangavelou.

Simultaneously, it was another unfavourable weekend for MP’s main rival Campos Racing, who went a second consecutive round without a podium.

The Spanish team looked set for their first top-three finish of the year with Christian Ho on pole for race two. However, the Singaporean driver lost the lead to Del Pino after the first lap and subsequently received a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, demoting him to fourth at the chequered flag.

Del Pino was full of praise for MP Motorsport and his teammates speaking after the weekend, but added that they have to be wary of Campos in spite of their slow start.

“Our team did a super job in Spielberg,” he said. “We managed to get all the podiums covered in orange, so it was quite good to see that [but] Campos is also a really good team. They won the teams’ championship last year, something that we cannot undermine. I think we can pull away from Campos. It’s not going to be easy, but we have the fact that we’re already [77] points ahead. Still, there is a long way to go to the end of the season, so we cannot say anything. It’s still too early.”

After Spielberg, the top four of the drivers’ standings consists solely of MP Motorsport drivers: Sagrera, Del Pino, Tangavelou, and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. – all of whom are potentially entering their first championship fight in Europe.

The odds of an intra-team title battle raise questions of how the Dutch outfit will handle a scenario with such prospective tensions. However, according to Del Pino, these have not risen within the team as of the Spielberg round.

“We’re all drivers, we all want to beat each other,” he acknowledged. “Right now there’s a good environment. We’re obviously trying to push to be the best of the team, but it’s been good so far. We enjoy being together. We also help each other because we need to win the teams’ championship.”

“But we are four [MP Motorsport] drivers in the top four, so [there is] pressure for the team manager to keep those four drivers from crashing into each other. The environment is good so far, but obviously it’s going to get a bit more tense,” he continued.

“It could be harder throughout the season if things stay like this but, from my point of view, what happens on the track stays on the track. Outside, we need to help each other build the best performance for the team and pull away from Campos.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency